I will admit that this required a bit of understanding on my part.

High school football stadiums in Texas occasionally rival college sports venues.

As the story in this link suggests, bigger is better in Texas.

http://amarillo.com/news/2016-09-25/eyes-texas-are-upon-top-tier-high-school-football-stadiums

Allen High School boasts an 18,000-seat stadium. It cost $60 million to build.

You think that’s the top end? Guess again. McKinney High School, just a bit north of Allen, is going to break ground on a $70 million football venue.

One of my sons lives in Allen with his wife, two sons and a their daughter. I’ll declare, therefore, that I have a keener-than-usual interest in this phenomenon.

My life experience includes growing up in a suburban Portland, Ore., community where football used to be pretty big, too. But not that big. Our high school football venue consisted of a covered grandstand that held maybe 2,000 fans.

We moved to Texas in 1984, where we learned just how big high school football really can get.

As for these gleaming venues, I’ll finish with this observation.

They aren’t conceived and built in a vacuum. Taxpaying residents of the communities involved vote to build them. I presume everyone’s eyes are wide open. The Allen HS bond election passed with a significant majority.

I accept their decision … although I’m still trying to understand it.